The Power of a Compliment

My sister's little boy, Caleb, stayed overnight at our house on Thursday.
On Friday morning, he was busy playing with Legos with Jake and Luke in the family room.
Caroline walked into the room dressed for school.
Her hair was pulled back with a white headband just like this one:

Caleb looked up at Caroline.
He stopped playing and said in the softest and sweetest voice,

"Caroline, you look bee-yoo-ti-ful."

The room was silent.

Jake looked at Caroline.
Luke looked at Caroline.
Caroline's face was full of pleasure.

This small compliment was so heart felt.
So meaningful.
So warm.
So . . . sincere.

Jake felt it.
Luke felt it.
Caroline sure felt it.
And I, of course, felt it.

It was so nice.
Four little words from a three year old.
Four words made Caroline's whole day brighter.

 Thank you, sweet Caleb, for speaking your heart and your mind.
Thank you for noticing that my Caroline is beautiful.

May we all learn how powerful a compliment really is.

Compliment someone unsuspecting today and just watch for their reaction.
It will make their day brighter.
And I bet a million bucks, it will make your day brighter, too!

1 Thessalonians 5:11 "So encourage each other and build each other up."

Luke is FIVE

Look who is FIVE!!

I must have blinked or something, because last time I looked, he was just a baby.

We threw Luke a simple, little party.

(remember . . . simple is good)

The kids did the decorations.

The theme was Star Wars.

I think they did a great job!!

We made little pizzas with cutie Caleb.

yummmmm . . . We made Luke a LEGO cake . . . I just love this picture of Caroline singing to Luke.
The next day, on Luke's real birthday, Jake and Caroline celebrated with him at Monkey Joe's. (a place with a lot of inflatables)

Happy Birthday, dear Luke!!

You make me smile!!

We love you sooo much!!

(and you'll ALWAYS be my baby . . . no matter how old you are!!)

Blessed Beyond Measure

Right now, I am feeling so very blessed.

Blessed beyond measure.

Blessed because we still have our precious little Caleb with us.

On Sunday, my sweet nephew, Caleb, had a near drowning experience. He had taken his life jacket off for lunch at his grandparents' pool and forgot that he wasn't still wearing it.

To make a very long horrible/wonderful story short . . . they had to air lift him to Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

Many people prayed. . .

and prayed. The Lord answered our prayers and worked a miracle in Caleb's little body.
The doctors said that Caleb is a lucky little guy.
We know that it had nothing to do with luck at all.

Now he is back in his Mommy's and Daddy's arms and is doing as well as ever.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Your prayers meant so much to us.

A friend of ours' sent us this verse while we were waiting for more news about Caleb's condition.

"the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore"

(Psalm 121:8).

Life is so very fragile.

It makes me feel secure knowing that God is watching over us.

God has a plan for little Caleb.

His plan is not finished yet.

Caleb will always have a story to tell about what happened on Sunday and he will always know that God wanted him to be on this earth for a purpose. I'm excited to see what that purpose is.

:)

Family Time

It's always good to be with family.

On Sunday, we got to see cutie little Caleb. Uncle Colin took us for a little spin on the river.
our family on Uncle Colin's and Auntie Diane's boatJake chillaxin'

I got to cuddle with Caleb on the boat After the boat ride, it was time for swimming and the hot tub!!
We are so thankful for family time.

Train Ride with Caleb

Last Wednesday, Diane and I thought it would be fun to take the kids on a train ride to Glen Ellyn. They have a very cute train-themed diner called "Two Toots" that we wanted to go to.

Here comes the train!!Caleb was so excited about his first train ride.Riding the horse at Two Toots.One of the fun things about Two Toots is that your food comes on a train!!Patiently waiting for dessert.Here come the cupcakes!! They came with train whistles on them.
Toot! Toot!
What a fun day!!!Caroline likes this picture. :)